Matthew 20:27 - Printer Friendly

The disciples have continued to show that they simply do not understand the nature of Jesus' coming kingdom. They are expecting that at some point, the Messiah will use His miraculous powers to overthrow Israel's oppressors and establish His own political kingdom on earth. The disciples have begun to compete for the top positions in that kingdom, the ones that will give them the most power and authority and status (Matthew 20:20–24).

Jesus has described this as a Gentile approach to power and position (Matthew 20:25). It's how Roman leaders exercise and flaunt their authority. He told His disciples it won't work that way for them. He did not tell them to stop wanting to be great in His kingdom, though. Instead He has described a different path to greatness.

He said that whoever would be great among them must be a servant to the others (Matthew 20:26). Now He adds that whoever would be first among them must be their slave. Jesus uses two different Greek words; He has already said the path to greatness for the disciples comes by being a servant, diakonos, to others.

Here, He says the route to number one status comes by being a slave, from the Greek word doulos. A servant agrees to meet the needs of others in exchange for money, or as an act of friendship. A slave acts under threat or obligation. Slaves and servants were two of the least powerful classes in the ancient world.

Jesus often said hard-to-understand things to the disciples. This, however, was exactly backward of their experience. Ancient wisdom equated nobility, status, and power with value; such people were assumed to be essentially better than those who were poor or unknown. Great men gave orders. They made important decisions. They received service from lesser men. Jesus, though, describes true greatness in His kingdom as belong to those who serve others and the very top spot as belong to the one who lives as a slave to those he serves.

Notice again that Jesus is not commanding His disciples to stop competing for greatness. He is describing to them how to find it. It will not come by having Roman-style power, position, or authority. It will come by meeting each other's needs as servants and slaves meet the needs of their masters. This is a lesson Jesus will eventually demonstrate in a personal way when He washes the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper (John 13:12–17).

Who would voluntarily live in such a way? Jesus insists in the following verse that is exactly the life He has chosen among them.

Matthew 20:20–28 follows Jesus' clear description of His impending death with a poorly timed request from James and John, through their mother. Their desire is for the two sons to be given the powerful positions of being seated on Jesus' left and right hand in His kingdom. Jesus makes an obscure reference to His upcoming suffering, asking if they can "drink the cup" ahead of Him. He then notes they will experience their own persecution and suffering, yet greatness in His kingdom won't look like the flaunted authority of the Gentile rulers. The greatest of all will be the one who serves the others as a slave. Jesus, too, has come to serve and not to be served.

Jesus illustrates His earlier comments about how some of the "first will be last, and the last first" (Matthew 19:30) with a parable about hired workers. He then clearly tells His disciples about His impending death and resurrection. The mother of James and John asks Jesus to make her sons number two and three in His kingdom. Jesus tells the disciples that true greatness won't come by flaunting authority as the Gentile leaders do. Instead, they will become great by serving each other, even as a slave does, as Jesus Himself has done. He then heals two blind men immediately before entering Jerusalem.

Matthew 20 begins with a parable that illustrates Jesus' statement at the end of Matthew 19: In His kingdom, some of the first will be last and the last first. Still on their way to Jerusalem, Jesus tells the disciples for the third time that He will be killed and then raised on the third day. When asked, Jesus explains that it is not up to Him to grant the seats on His right and left hand in the kingdom and that His disciples will not become great in the way of Gentiles. Instead, they will find greatness by serving each other. A healing of two blind men leads into the triumphal entry, the first event in the last earthly week of Jesus' ministry.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.